When I was a kid, I enjoyed a good thunderstorm. I watched out the window to see the huge streaks of lightning and see the trees blowing. My brothers and I laughed when the thunder shook the house. It was thrilling. We were safe in our home, and never worried about the potential harm of a severe storm. Years later.... nothing had really changed. I still loved to lie awake at night and listen to the wind, rain and the rumble of thunder. It was very soothing. I never worried about the weather. We were all snug in our home, what could possibly happen? Then one summer night, in 2007, my happy weather,bubble was shattered. My husband and I awoke to the sound of a huge wind gust, or so we thought. That gust quickly got louder and became a big roar. The house seemed like it was shaking and flashes of light were lighting up the house. It all happened suddenly, without warning. There were none of the typical signs of impending storms. There wasn't even a drop of rain yet.. This was a strange quirk of nature, that brought a tornado,actually two tornadoes, ahead of the storm. We quickly ran to get our kids and dogs to the basement. Trying to be heard over the roar.. Once we made it to the basement, we turned on the news, trying to confirm that a tornado had indeed hit our area. There was nothing but the usual programing! No warnings, no up to the minute tornado news. What was going on? A full ten minutes went by before the t.v. stations started issuing tornado warnings and reporting damage around our area. The tornodo sirens started going sounding. It was far to late. The tornadoes had already made a trail through the city of Omaha. It turns out the two tornadoes that struck late that night, at the same time, moved just to the right and left of our home. I knew just how close we came to being hit and never having any warning that it was coming. I won't ever feel the same about a storm or ever take the weather lightly again. It's not enjoyable to listen to thunder anymore because it's a contant reminder of what could have happened.